@@@ AICN COMICS @@@ 7th ANNUAL @$$IE AWARDS!

Welcome, all, to Day Four of the 7th Annual AICN COMICS @$$IE AWARDS, where comics best and brightest are recognized for stellar (and sometimes not so stellar) performances in comic bookdom. I’m Ambush Bug. There was a time when we could fit all of the @$$ies into one lengthy column, but the @$$Holes’ ranks have grown too big for that, so for the next week or so, a pair of @$$Holes will be presenting their picks for the best of the best in comics. Most awards are given around the turn of the year, but we think ours is special, so while those outside of the know celebrate the time of the Oscar, we here at AICN COMICS celebrate the time of the coveted @$$ie Award. In between picks, subcategories compiled by all of the @$$Holes will be interspersed. So sit back, crack the knuckles in your browsing hand, and scroll down as the @$$Holes pick the @$$ies!

Best Original Graphic Novel

45 (FORTY-FIVE) (COM.X) Not your typical superhero story, this graphic novel works on two levels. First, there are the concise, engaging one-page solo stories that introduce the reader to a new world of superpowered beings. Next, there is the deeper comprehension of the shared universe these characters inhabit, and the shadowy conspiracies being weaved about these seemingly simplistic tales. Writer Andi Ewington and a host of talented artists succeed in bringing something new and innovative to the table with excellent book.

The Deep One handjob from NEONOMICON #3 (Avatar Press)I may be branded a sicko for this, but the black humor of this moment can’t be denied. After seeing her partner killed and subjected to humiliating and degrading sexual acts (which include multiple rape by a fish-monster), FBI Agent Brears avoids further congress with the creature by getting him off with an old-fashioned handski. The situation alone is absurd, but throw in Brears’ familiar attitude towards the Lovecraftian beast and add the juxtaposition of a fish-man jizz-shot against the verbose grandeur of Lovecraft’s mythos, and you’ve got a scene that’ll make you laugh out loud even as you recoil in disgust.

Rodriguez’s interior art for the series is spectacular, but his covers are always brilliant and eye-catching. The covers capture an essential essence of each issue, whether by literal depiction or symbolic imagery, and are a welcome counterpoint of the more prevalent crop of “standing around posing” covers that litter the superhero comic landscape.

Invincible, INVINCIBLE (Image Comics) Though the series itself doesn’t grab me like it once did, I still like the way Robert Kirkman continues to develop his title character. Over the years Invincible has grown from a happy-go-lucky hero to a dark avenger to a mature adult, and the past year has really put the character through the ringer as his father’s race mounted their invasion of Earth. One of the chief complaints about the icons of Marvel and DC is that they aren’t allowed to grow beyond a certain point and thus remain “trapped in amber,” as some put it. With Invincible, the only constraint is Kirkman’s imagination, and that makes for one very interesting superhero.

There was a typical direction Eric Hobbs could have gone in with THE BROADCAST, a story set on the night that Orson Welles terrified the nation with his radio broadcast of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds. But Hobbs merely used this incident as a backdrop, focusing more on the characters and their stories. This created well-developed characters and a fascinating, even if long, read.

Though the artwork on the covers of DARKWING DUCK is based on the cartoon and not the original style of Silvani’s, the covers he has created for DARKWING DUCK provide an insight into what each book holds. They are also bold and eye-catching, while being humorous at the same time.

Utterly evil. I truly enjoy characters that revel in their darkness, that lack even an iota of goodness in them. Pytho, the demon, was a great source of villainy and humor through NANCY IN HELL. He is probably the one character I looked forward to each issue, waiting to see what schemes and dastardly plans he had up his sleeve.

Though incomplete as of yet, THE DARKNESS: FOUR HORSEMEN is still probably the best miniseries of what I have read this past year. I reviewed the first two issues for another site and they were my first introduction to the Top Cow character. Disgusted, dismayed, and yet intrigued, the comic is full of gruesome scenes that push the limits of what a weak stomach can hold. It is very much a rubbernecking series, something so horrible, yet you cannot look away.

Nichols can draw something violent and/or horrific, but not make my stomach turn. But it is his choice of not showing everything at once that makes him my favorite artist of 2010. The artwork is rather soft in its lines, but this does not work against the hard quality of the subject matter. Wayne Nichols is able to blend fantasy, horror, and noir into one comic.

You may wonder why I chose a six year old as the best writer of the year. That is because only a six year old could have created such a ridiculous yet genius idea as AXE COP. His uninhibited imagination has birthed one of the best web comics, dare I say, ever.

Though I never got to read the first four issues, THE DUCK KNIGHT RETURNS, the following four were the most fun comics I read all the latter half of this year. I’ve read comics based on TV shows before and rarely do I find them to live up to the original, but DARKWING DUCK makes a solid attempt to provide the same level of entertainment as its source material.